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Konathala, followers give up hopes of joining ruling party
Going by the present scenario in north coastal Andhra, former Minister and a close aide of Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Konathala Ramakrishna and his followers seem to have given up hopes of joining ruling Telugu Desam Party.
​Visakhapatnam: Going by the present scenario in north coastal Andhra, former Minister and a close aide of Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Konathala Ramakrishna and his followers seem to have given up hopes of joining ruling Telugu Desam Party.
After the sudden demise of Rajasekhara Reddy, Ramakrishna joined YSRCP but could not survive in the party for long. After he fell apart with Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, BJP made a move to rope him to strengthen the party at grassroots level.
- HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao briefs Party Chief N Chandrababu Naidu that the entry of Konathala will cause resentment among workers
- Konathala says his concern is to take up pending projects in rural areas and issues concerning people
While the talks were on, TDP leaders, particularly Panchayati Raj Minister Ch Ayyanna Patrudu suggested Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu that Ramakrishna would be an asset for the party. Ayyanna Patrudu’s hidden agenda was to neutralise the growing clout of HRD Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao.
Stage was set during last Sankranthi to rope in Ramakrishna, former MLA Gandi Babji, Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and other second rung leaders into the party. But the HRD Minister moved in and told the party president that the entry of Ramakrishna and his followers would cause resentment among the party workers.
Going by the recent developments in the last few months, one can observe that Ramakrishna is giving priority to taking up peoples’ issues rather than joining the ruling TDP. Last fortnight, he objected to diversion of water to GVMC from Raiwada and Tandava and stood by the farmers by bringing pressure on the State government.
Later, he dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking special grants to the backward north coastal Andhra districts which was assured in AP Reorganisation Act, 2014. He also sent a comprehensive report to the State government on the pending irrigation projects which were taken up during the Congress rule.
On Tuesday, he along with his followers went to Sabbavaram and staged a dharna demanding completion of Sujala Sravanthi for which foundation was laid by YSR in 2009. “I have not taken any decision to join or not to join the TDP. Right now, my concern is to take up pending projects in rural areas and issues concerning people,” Ramakrishna told this correspondent.
But senior TDP leaders are still hopeful of Ramakrishna joining the party. “Party chief does not want to take any chances in the 2019 general elections. He wants important leaders irrespective of the party to come into the TDP fold,” said a senior party leader.
By: KMP Patnaik
